This debate really seems to be about two different things, spelling and pronunciation. The letter w (and y) is often used with other vowels (and sometimes alone as well) in spelling to reperesent a vowel sound . In the words hi and by , the letter

As per phonetics theory, I've been told one should use the indefinite article "a" before words beginning with a consonant and "an" before words beginning with a vowel or a diphthong. And the sound "y" ( or / j /

Yes, there are regional variations in American English. Do you know which accent is chosen by MW as the reference in the pronunciation keys. Is it General American? My problem is that, as I have mentioned before, they are indeed denoted

In British English, what you said are two different vowels and are in fact denoted differently in IPA. The extended ones are diphthongs. bet / bet / bear / be r / bee / bi: / beer / bi r / (The non-rhotic "r" cannot be shown

It would be helpful for you to re-read the rules in the link posted by Jim above. The rules do NOT require the words to be monosyllabic. They also apply to words with more than one syllable. However, you only need to pay attention to the last

Wow, you even studied linguistics... Well, /ɪ/ is the vowel in TIP, and /aɪ/ is the diphthong in TYPE. The symbol /i/ technically stands for a higher vowel, as in TEA, for example. That's IPA. SAMPA is another transcription method where only

Hey CB, how about ? Seven, , , ten. Hi Jackson, vowel letters are A, E, I, O, U. Vowel sounds are all those sounds you use while speaking that are not consonants. The most common vowel sound in English is the schwa (IPA symbol: /ə/). IPA is the

diphthong: (phonetics) a combination of two vowel sounds or vowel letters monophthong: a speech sound that consists of only one vowel sound triphthong: a combination of three vowel sounds or vowel letters The above definitions use the expressions

Definitions from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary: diphthong: (phonetics) a combination of two vowel sounds or vowel letters monophthong: a speech sound that consists of only one vowel sound triphthong: a combination of three vowel

Definitions from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary: diphthong: (phonetics) a combination of two vowel sounds or vowel letters monophthong: a speech sound that consists of only one vowel sound triphthong: a combination of three vowel